Conservation and environmental practices, many of them augmented by laws, have occasioned widespread orderly collection of empty containers as, for example, soda and beer containers (cans or bottles). Collections are stimulated by container deposits established by law. Numerous organizations, such as the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, church and civic-minded organizations, engage in collecting such containers and delivering them to recycling or disposal centers.
The manufacturers of such beverage products ship or distribute their filled containers in groups of varying sizes, some of which are designated "six packs", "eight packs" or "twelve packs". Many are shipped in carriers of two dozen or more containers. Cartons or cases for such groupings are made of various substances such as wood, metal, plastic or cardboard. Some of these are destroyed by the simple act of removing the individual containers. Other, more sturdy carriers (because of their weight and/or various size groupings) are cumbersome or lack uniformity for collecting and temporarily stacking, warehousing and shipping empties. Some carriers are returned to the shipper by the retailer for re-use.
Carriers generally of the type above described may be found in such patents as Read U.S. Pat. No. 2,574,983, Hammett U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,063, Geiler U.S. Pat. No. 4,782,945 and Abraham U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,716. Some as, for example Read, are made of very durable material and are too expensive for widespread collection purposes. Others such as a typical six pack or eight pack group or array, held together by a flexible plastic holder termed a "top grip" (see 54 of Hammett, supra, column 9, line 1) are damaged upon removal of product from the group. It is accordingly an object of my invention to make a relatively inexpensive carrier which itself is readily nested with other carriers for storage or shipment to groups collecting empty beverage containers. It is an object of my invention to provide such a carrier that can contain a predetermined uniform number of containers in manageable groups adapted to stacking, counting and shipment.
It is a further object of my invention to provide a carrier made, preferably of plastic or other light moldable material, and formed as a unitary bottom and top matingly securable to each other to form a closed carrier.
Another object of the invention is to provide relatively inexpensive compartmented carriers which may be uniformly stacked and secured to each other.
Still another object is to provide a plastic carrier made of recycled material with or without a biodegradable addition to promote recycling and allow disposal without environmental detriment.